A Saskatoon woman charged with murder is the mother of the five-year-old victim, neighbours say.

Kellie Johnson, 35, was charged with first-degree murder Saturday in relation to the death of five-year-old Jonathan Vetter.

“A first-degree murder for anybody — especially when you live next door to them — is a scary thing,” said neighbour Vanessa Mathieson. “She would take her kids with my kids to the store in the summer time, and even some of the other kids around here. They would go to the park and play.”

Vetter died early Saturday morning shortly after emergency crews responded to a call about an injured child at a home in the 400 block of Avenue R South at around 5:30 a.m.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Several neighbours told CTV that Johnson was Vetter’s mother.

Three other people were in the Avenue R home at the time of Vetter’s death, police said.

According to neighbours, a family of five — two grandparents, two children and their mother — lives in the residence.

Neighbours Kelvin and Linda Tinkler told CTV that five-year-old Vetter would often come over to their house with his older brother to play in their pool.

“I’m heartbroken,” Linda said. "The boys were always over playing in the neighbourhood.”

The brothers were good friends with the Tinkler’s six-year-old daughter.

“It totally blows me away that anything like this could happen,” Kelvin said.

The death is Saskatoon's first homicide of 2014.

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CORRECTION: In a previous version of this story, CTV incorrectly identified Jonathan Vetter as Jonathon Johnson. Vetter is his legal last name, but neighbours of the family told CTV they knew him as Jonathan Johnson. We regret the error.